NHTSA Releases Study in Preparation for New Efficiency Rules

An environmental study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to lock in proposed fuel economy increases in preparation for its final regulations, which will be announced in November.

The report suggests a 4.5% per year increase in fuel economy standards in order to reach 35 mpg by 2020, as mandated by Congress. The 4.5% yearly rise in standards would actually push fleetwide fuel economy to 39.4 mpg by 2020.

Automakers, of course, are not happy with the study, and they claim that it overestimates the environmental impact and underestimates the cost. The report suggests that the increased regulation would reduce gasoline usage by 19.5 billion gallons through 2020 and decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 185 million metric tons through 2100. It will cost automakers $47 billion to comply with the mandate, according to NHTSA. That number, automakers say, is too low, but even at $47 billion, it might be too much for many of the financially-strapped automakers to handle.

Environmentalists obviously argue that the government should be even more aggressive. With these new CAFE standards, the first increase in two decades, automakers won’t have a choice but to swallow the long overdue rise in fuel economy.

Study Paves Way for Fuel Rules (Detroit News)